IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 687 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 

President’s responsibility to address the border crisis. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2014 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the President’s responsibility to address the border 

crisis. 

Whereas the United States has a great tradition of welcoming 

immigrants of all ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds 

under the rule of law; 

Whereas under the Constitution of the United States, it is 

the Congress that has plenary constitutional authority to 

establish United States immigration policy; 

Whereas the Obama Administration has sought unilaterally 

to rewrite immigration laws passed by the Congress by 

taking administrative action via policy memoranda; 


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Whereas the Obama Administration has sent a broad signal 

to unlawful immigrants that, once they enter the United 

States, they can remain here in violation of the law without consequence; 

Whereas, on June 15, 2012, the Obama Administration announced via executive fiat the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in which certain people 

who came to the United States as children may request 

consideration of deferred action on removal and would 

then be eligible for work authorization; 

Whereas the Obama Administration has abused prosecutorial 

discretion in order to shield entire categories of unlawful 

immigrants from the rule of law; 

Whereas in fiscal year 2013, United States Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement arbitrarily released over 36,000 

criminal aliens from detention, in most cases, an act not 

compelled by a court or immigration judge; 

Whereas these 36,000 criminal aliens had nearly 88,000 convictions, including 193 homicide convictions, 303 kidnapping convictions, 426 sexual assault convictions, 8,187 

dangerous drug convictions, and 16,070 drunk or 

drugged driving convictions; 

Whereas under the Obama Administration, approval rates by 

United States Citizen and Immigration Services officers 

in affirmative asylum cases have increased from 28 percent in 2007 to 46 percent in 2013 and approval rates 

by immigration judges in affirmative asylum cases have 

increased from 51 percent in 2007 to 74 percent in 2013; 

Whereas under the Obama Administration, ‘‘credible fear’’ 

claims have increased 586 percent from 2007 to 2013, as 

the Obama Administration rubber-stamps applications; 


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Whereas in fiscal year 2013, 92 percent of ‘‘credible fear’’ 

claims were approved on the merits; 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security expects to 

apprehend more than 90,000 unaccompanied minors on 

the border this year, representing a 1,381 percent increase since 2011; 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security expects to 

apprehend more than 140,000 unaccompanied minors in 

2015, representing a 2,232 percent increase since 2011; 

Whereas the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), a highly respected intelligence analysis center in support of field enforcement entities throughout the Southwest border region, was established in 1974 and contains representatives from 24 agencies; 

Whereas the EPIC intelligence report from July 7, 2014, assessed homicide trends in Central American countries 

and migrant interviews, suggesting violence is likely not 

the principal factor driving the increase in unlawful migration into the United States; 

Whereas the EPIC intelligence report from July 7, 2014, reveals that, in late May of 2014, the Border Patrol interviewed unaccompanied minors and migrant families apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley, and of the 230 total 

unlawful immigrants interviewed, 95 percent (219 individuals) cited the primary reason for migrating to the 

United States was the perception of United States immigration laws granting free passes or permisos allowing 

them to stay; 

Whereas the EPIC intelligence report from July 7, 2014, reveals several United States media outlets have identified 

Central American newspapers that have enticed children 


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to travel to the United States, including Honduran and 

El Salvadoran press which have reportedly advertised the 

DACA policy, accommodations for detained unlawful immigrants, and the promise of reunification with family 

members in the United States; 

Whereas the House of Representatives is deeply concerned 

about the migrants, especially innocent children, who 

have been impacted by the President’s policies and, as a 

result, enticed to undertake such a dangerous and treacherous journey; 

Whereas the continuation of the President’s policies threatens 

a widening crisis, with an increasing number of migrants 

displaced and endangered thousands of miles from their 

support system and at an increased risk of many threats, 

including involvement in human trafficking; and 

Whereas the President currently has the necessary tools at 

his disposal to solve the humanitarian crisis at the border 

with existing funding from Congress: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) agrees with the President that there is an 

3 ‘‘actual humanitarian crisis on the border that only 

4 underscores the need to drop the politics and fix our 

5 immigration system once and for all’’; 

6 (2) calls upon the President to use the re7 sources already at his disposal to gain certifiable 

8 operational control of the border; 

9 (3) calls upon the President to send a clear 

10 message that those who are seeking to enter the 


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1 United States illegally will be returned to their home 

2 countries; 

3 (4) calls upon the President to send a clear 

4 message that subjecting children to the perilous mi5 gration northward to our border will no longer be 

6 tolerated; 

7 (5) calls upon the President to cease using his 

8 prosecutorial discretion authority to shield unlawful 

9 immigrants from prosecution; 

10 (6) calls upon the President to cease releasing 

11 convicted criminal aliens from detention; 

12 (7) calls upon the President to crack down on 

13 fraudulent asylum claims; 

14 (8) calls upon the President to implement 

15 tougher standards for ‘‘credible fear’’ claims; 

16 (9) calls upon the President to restore agree17 ments with local law enforcement agencies to enforce 

18 immigration laws; 

19 (10) calls upon the President to give Border 

20 Patrol agents access to Federal lands where drug 

21 traffickers, human smugglers, and unlawful immi22 grants hide; 

23 (11) calls upon the President to employ diplo24 matic resources with Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, 

25 and El Salvador to stop the border crisis; and 


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1 (12) stands ready to work with the President to 

2 make certain the preceding calls to action are real3 ized as expeditiously as possible. 

Æ 


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